


Running Home To You

by BeautifulTrauma



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Twins, Doppelganger, F/F, F/M, Multi, Personal Growth, Social Anxiety, Storyline Changes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:07:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26634097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeautifulTrauma/pseuds/BeautifulTrauma
Summary: Holly had never believed in fairytales. All those stories with happy endings with princes and castles could only exist inside the pages of a children's book. Neither had she believed in  stories with monsters that were living in caves, crazy scientists, strange women flying on brooms or...VAMPIRES... She had never believed, until today...
Relationships: Alaric Saltzman/Jenna Sommers, Bonnie Bennett/Jeremy Gilbert, Bonnie Bennett/Lorenzo "Enzo" St. John, Caroline Forbes/Damon Salvatore, Caroline Forbes/Klaus Mikaelson, Caroline Forbes/Stefan Salvatore, Caroline Forbes/Tyler Lockwood, Damon Salvatore/Original Female Character(s), Elena Gilbert/Damon Salvatore, Elena Gilbert/Stefan Salvatore, Jeremy Gilbert/Annabelle "Anna" Zhu, Katherine Pierce/Damon Salvatore, Katherine Pierce/Stefan Salvatore, Matt Donovan/Caroline Forbes, Matt Donovan/Elena Gilbert, Stefan Salvatore/Original Female Character(s), Vicki Donovan/Jeremy Gilbert
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	Running Home To You

_September 8, 2008_

_Dear Diary,_

_It's just after 5 am, and it's finally here. The day I have been dreading for weeks. But after everything that happened in the past five months, I just didn't feel like I could go back to my old life..._

_My family is worried about me.... My sister has been harassing me with calls all summer long, and even Jeremy Skyped me more times than his usual once a week mandatory check-in..._

_I talked to Jenna last night, she wouldn't say it directly, but I know she thinks I made a mistake by dropping out... In all honesty – I'm not sure that I didn't. Maybe she's right... Maybe I was stupid- After all, who drops out of a full-ride scholarship at Harvard Medical School?!_

_The good news is, my transfer to the University of Virginia has been approved. I can drive up there once or twice a week to attend my mandatory classes and I'll skip out on anything that isn't strictly necessary, after all – this is the University of Virginia we're talking about... compared to Harvard finishing Med School there should be a walk in the park..._

_Dad probably would have killed me for dropping out, but I wanna go home... since my parents died I've just felt so disconnected from the real world... I mean, I wake up in the morning, I shower, I eat, then I attend my classes and afternoon study sessions or hang around the library and then I go home, eat and go to bed... As for the last semester break, I don't even remember what I was doing, other laying around and wallowing in my self-pity..._

_I have asked Jenna not to tell my sister or Jeremy that I'm coming home. Knowing them they would have tried to talk me out of it... I mean, last time I was in Mystic Falls they couldn't wait to hustle me back to University as soon as we'd put Mum and Dad in the ground... I know that they meant well and that I shouldn't fault them for not wanting me to miss more classes than necessary and inevitably fail and lose my scholarship, but I couldn't focus here any more than I could have done there... Also, I didn't wanna talk to Elena... I know I should be over it by now, and with the way she keeps calling me I shouldn't ignore her so much, but I can't help that in the back of my mind, I still blame her for Mum and Dad's death. If she'd stayed home instead of going to that stupid party, then our parents might just be alive right now..._

_Gabby thill thinks I'm jumping the gun. She doesn't really talk to me and she's really sad that I'm leaving, but I can't let her guilt trip me into staying here... I'm sure she'll find another roommate that she'll like soon enough... She only has two semesters left before she's done, surely she'll hold out that long..._

_Anyway, I'm so ready to go home. The movers will arrive in two hours and then I'll be out of here... and on my way back home. Maybe I'll start feeling better about Elena once I spend more time with her... And I can't wait to see my little brother and my friends!_

_Alright, that's it for now, I'll write again once I'm back in Mystic Falls..._

_Holly xxx_

It was quiet when Holly Elisabeth Gilbert arrived home in Mystic Falls at just after 2 pm. The house was empty.

Once all her belongings had been loaded into a small moving truck, and after a very tearful goodbye to her best friend and roommate, Gabby, Holly had taken her cat, a black and orange Maine Coon named Smokie, and called herself a taxi to the Airport. She had taken the first available flight to Charlottesville which had landed at 12:45, and rather than bothering Jenna to come and pick her up, she'd called another taxi to take Smokie and herself home.

Now that she was standing in her empty childhood home, she wished she had waited for Jenna to come and get her. Even though she knew that Elena and Jeremy would probably get home soon, she felt lonely... like an intruder... her Mum had always been home to welcome her, when she'd arrived...

Shaking her head to get rid of the depressing thoughts, she secured the bag on her shoulder and grabbed the cat carrier and her small suitcase and went upstairs to her bedroom. When she released the cat in her bedroom, she realized that the bedroom was exactly as she had left it five months ago... The bed covered in the purple sheets her mother had put on before she'd died and she curtains were shut. The TV remote was carelessly thrown on the small couch next to her bed and a family picture from the bedside table was shattered and laying near the window, next to the litterbox that was kept in her room when she was gone.

Her stomach turned. She needed to get out of here and do... something... DINNER! She could make dinner. First, she'd have to go shopping and then come home and cock, maybe even bake a cake or something...

Normally she would have put the litterbox into the hallway, but there was no time, she didn't want to stay a minute longer... Holly left Smokie, who immediately jumped onto her bed and rolled herself into a doughnut on top of her sheets, as well as her suitcase, in her room and yanked her purse out of her bag. Within seconds she sprinted down the stairs, grabbed her housekey from the bowl next to the door where she'd put it when she had arrived and practically flew out the door.

She went into the garage to check if the car was there and luckily Elena hadn't taken it to drive to school which meant Holly didn't have to walk to the store. Pulling the car out of the driveway, she turned up the music in the car and leaned back in her seat. She was in her hometown on the way to buy food for dinner... it almost felt like everything was back to normal and her mum had just sent her out on a grocery run... except of course, nothing was normal, her parents were dead and everything sucked...

When she pulled up into the supermarket parking lot, Holly felt depressed and sort of alien to her own hometown. She figured if she kept pushing through the feelings would fade eventually. She got a shopping cart and went inside, where she came to the realisation, that she didn't have a clue what she was going to cook... her Mum had usually cooked lasagna whenever she'd come home from college... so that wasn't an option... What else? Spaghetti were basically the same as lasagna... In fact, she decided, anything containing noodles was off the table... at least for tonight, she'd re-evaluate her feelings again tomorrow. Best to take one day at a time...

Eventually Holly got done shopping and was on her way back home. She had decided to make a Patate Al Forno and she had also bought all the ingredients to bake some strawberry-chocolate cupcakes to keep herself distracted. She drove the car back into the garage and took the three shopping bags out of the car. She put them on a table next to the garage door and pressed the key-remote to lock the car. Then she grabbed the heaviest one of her bags and made her way inside. Just when she'd put her key into the door lock, somebody opened it from the inside. The door swung open and Holly was facing her sister.

"HOLLY?"

"Hi, Elena..." she answered. This was awkward. She'd been hoping to have some time to prepare for seeing her... Oh well, no time like the present...

"What are you doing here?" Elena questioned. There was a look of genuine surprise and confusion on her face, but there was also something else... hurt. Holly knew why of course. They'd used to talk all the time and tell each other everything. Whenever she'd come home, Elena had already been waiting in the driveway, practically buzzing with excitement... now Holly wouldn't even answer her calls most of the time...

"Uhhh..." Holly started, feeling a bit overwhelmed. She didn't really know what to say... She was so not ready for this. "I live here?" It sounded more like a question than a statement... Elena frowned.

"I know that, of course you do, but you are supposed to be in Cambridge right now! What are you doing here? You are going to miss so much stuff when you're away from Harvard!" She would have been right of course, if Holly was still attending Harvard.

"Actually –"Her bag was slipping out of her arms, she pushed it up with her knee and squeezed past Elena. "-I won't be missing anything in Harvard, considering that I'm out." Holly quietly spoke while she put down the shopping bag. She didn't look at Elena, she didn't wanna see the judgemental, disappointed look that her sister was surely throwing her way.

"What? Are you kidding?" Elena's voice sounded a bit panic-y... "You... What do you mean out? You got kicked out? What did you do? Seriously Holly, what happened? It's Harvard we're talking about! Harvard! This is your dream! You can't just -" Elena was frantic. But Holly didn't want to hear it.

"ELENA!" She interrupted loudly. "Stop it! Just stop! I am out of Harvard. I transferred. I'll be attending the University of Virginia starting next week. I wanted to come home, I... I just wanted to come home..."

"Why didn't you tell me? You used to tell me everything, but most days when I call you now, you're too busy to even answer your phone..." Elena spoke quietly from the other side of the kitchen isle. Holly shrugged. She basically felt like Elena's pain was her own. She had a painful, sad sort of feeling in her stomach.

"Frankly, Elena, I didn't feel like I needed your blessing or even acknowledgement to make that decision... It was my choice... It IS my choice and talking about is now isn't gonna change the way it is." Holly didn't now why she reacted like this... well, she knew, but it hadn't been her intention to react in this manner... she needed to get herself under control. She took a deep breath through her nose. "Now, instead of what we're doing here, how about you come along and help me get the other two bags, so I can get started on my cupcakes and our dinner."

She walked around the kitchen isle and back out the front door into the garage. Elena followed. Holly gave her one of the two remaining shopping bags from the table next to the garage door and took one herself, then with the bags in hand the girls left the garage, not bothering to close it. They put the shopping bags on the kitchen counter and started unloading them.

"Sooo... where's Jeremy?" Holly asked, attempting to make smalltalk as she put the ingredients for her cupcakes next to the kitchen aid.

"Oh, he's probably hanging out somewhere in town... He doesn't tell me much these days..." There was a frown on her face as she told Holly. Holly herself frowned a little as well. As far as she knew Jeremy didn't feel the same resentment and blame towards Elena as she did. Granted, even with Jeremy skyping her twice a week they'd never talked about him and Elena struggling with their relationship.

"What's going on with Jeremy? He didn't tell me anything... In fact – what is going on in general? Catch me up on all things 'Mystic Falls' and don't leave out any details. I need some entertainment while I bake." Holly wanted to try to fall back into a comfortable relationship with her sister. No matter her irrational feelings of resentment. She knew that she needed to get over it to achieve some sort of personal growth. Holly threw the empty bags in the trash while Elena jumped up and sat on the kitchen isle. She started talking while Holly pulled a small notebook that contained the recipe for strawberry-chocolate cupcakes out of one of the drawers and started to prepare everything she needed to bake them.

"Soooo... Jeremy and Vicky Donnavan? Well there's a pairing I never saw coming..." Holly muttered while weighting flour into a bowl.

"I know right? She's so unstable and loose. The worst possible influence for Jeremy right now!" Holly nodded. Elena wasn't wrong. Matt's older sister had always been a bit of a wild child, taking very much after her mother who was known in town for being an equally loose cannon. Elena went on - catching Holly up on what she'd missed, even though, admittedly, Holly was only half listening, chiming in only with the occasional 'mhhh' and 'aha' to keep her going. It was actually sort of nice to have her sister there... Suddenly the doorbell rang and pulled Holly's focus away from her batter. She turned of the mixer to hear.

"That's probably Bonny," Elena said and slid of the kitchen isle. She walked out into the hallway and opened the front door. Bonnie stood on the other side of it. They greeted each other and Elena pulled her towards the kitchen. "You won't believe who's here..." Holly heard Elena tell Bonnie excitedly. Holly had always been good friends with Bonnie, in fact she'd been friendly with all of Elena's friends. But still that's what most of them were – Elena's friends. Holly had always been more of an outsider. Rather spending time inside her room reading than playing with other kids. She hadn't gone to kindergarten or pre-school to make friends either... The first time she'd made any sort of social contact by herself had been when she'd attended High School at nine, but the teenaged High Schoolers had been too cool and too 'mature' to be friends with the silly child genius. Whitmore College had been pretty much the same. Attending Harvard had marked the first friendship Holly had ever gained on her own, her roommate – Gabby, who had accepted Holly with all her introverted, nerdy, shut-in tendencies. Still – Bonnie was very much Holly's friend.

"OH GOD! HOLLY!" Bonnie shrieked when she saw Holly in the kitchen. She practically flew over and pulled her in a hug. It was sort of nice to get hugged, but the whole ordeal also made her a little uncomfortable. She patted Bonnie on the back and watched as Elena jumped back on the kitchen counter with a smile on her face. "What are you doing here? When did you get here? And, most importantly, how long are you staying?," Bonnie asked when she let go.

"I got home this afternoon, I transferred from Harvard to the University to Virginia... I missed this place... Home... And all you guys... So I'm home for good." Holly told Bonnie who smiled brightly.

"That's so great! You can hang out with us again!" Holly nodded, not sure what to say to that... on one hand she wasn't much of a 'hang out' or 'go out' type of person, on the other hand she knew getting out more would do her good. "Sooo are you gonna have dinner with us tonight?"

"Ugh... Yeah, I'm cooking patate al forno, actually." Holly said, unsure of tonight's dinner plans. Elena had probably told her while she hadn't listened.

"Well that's great! You're a better cook then us anyway! Stefan's gonna love it!," Bonnie said. Stefan? Who was Stefan?

"I told her the same thing!" Elena re-inserted herself into the conversation... well, Holly would probably meet Stefan later anyway... no need to disappoint Elena by letting her know that she hadn't been listening to her brabble...

"Well, I need to get back to my batter soooo... If you wanna stay sit next to my sister and entertain me, while staying out of my way." Bonnie joined Elena on the kitchen isle, while Holly turned back to the batter for her cupcakes...

~*~

Almost two hours later the cupcakes were out of the oven and on the windowsill to cool off, the chocolate-buttercream was cooling in the fridge and the strawberries were washed and cut, ready in a covered bowl and she was just finishing up a salat.

"We should head upstairs and change. Especially you, Holl, you're covered in batter and flour and sauce... And we've got at least 30 minutes before we have to take the food out of the oven" Elena said. Holly looked down on herself. Elena was right, she should clean up... So she nodded. "Bonnie, do you wanna borrow something?" Bonnie agreed and the girls went upstairs.

"I'll just go and take a shower..." Holly mumbled, wanting to escape the Situation to get a moment of peace and quiet. She girls nodded and Bonnie let Elena pull her to her room. Holly went into the bathroom, closed and locked the door. There were two bathrooms upstairs, one that belonged to Elena and Holly, and one that Jeremy had shared with their parents. The first thing Holly did was take a deep breath to calm herself.

Then she turned the shower on so the water would have time to run hot. She went over to a closet and pulled out two towels, a large one for her body and a small one for her hair. She put both on the closed toilet lit in front of the shower, rather than the towel rag. Then she undressed, threw her dirty clothes in the hamper and stepped into the shower.

Once she was clean and felt somewhat more relaxed, Holly turned the water of and stepped back out. She grabbed her towel, tying one around her brown curls and one around her body, then she left the bathroom and went to her room. Usually she would have sat down and waited to airdry, but since she had food in the oven and apparently a 'special' guest coming, it was better to hurry. So she dried herself off by rubbing her Body dry with the towel; When she felt like she was dry enough, she tied the towel around her body again and went to Elena's room. She knocked before she opened the door. Both her and Bonnie were dressed and Elena was just retouching her mascara.

"I need some of your clothes, please, mine are coming tomorrow with the moving truck..." Holly said quietly. Elena nodded and pointed to the closet, while she and Bonnie continued chatting.

First Holly took a clean pair of panties and a fresh bra from Elena's underwear drawer, followed by a pair of white socks. Then she went to the closet and recognized some of her own stuff, so she pulled out a rather large Brown knitted jumper and a pair of grey and a white striped cotton pants. She took everything and went back to her bedroom, where her cat was still happily sleeping on her bed, to put her clothes on.

When she was done dressing, she took the towel that was still tied around her head and rubbed her hair dry with it, just to make sure that it wouldn't drip anymore. She didn't even bother brushing her wet curls, she threw her head forward, grabbed her hair and tied it into a wet messy bun on top of her head. Once that was done, she took her towels, put them in back in the bathroom and opened the window there. After that she went downstairs. Bonnie and Elena were already there and setting the table and talking.

"...fine. Well, how about this?" Bonnie says to try making her friends believe in her. "Today I'm obsessed with numbers. Three numbers, I keep seeing 8, 14, and 22. How weird is that?" Bonnie said.

"Maybe we should play the lottery." Elena answered, obviously trying to make Bonnie laugh. "Have you talked to your Grams?" Holly had no idea what they were talking about, so she just shrugged the conversation off and went back to her cupcakes... Might as well finish them...

She checked the oven to make sure the Patate al forno was good and then she grabbed the now cool cupcakes off the windowsill. Just as she was filling the piping bag with the chocolate-buttercream from the fridge Elena and Bonnie came back to the kitchen.

"Smells good! Okay, serving spoons. Where are the serving spoons?" Elena asked. Holly opened her mouth to answer, but Bonnie beat her to it.

"Middle drawer on your left." Bonnie said. It was sort of impressive, Bonnie apparently knew the kitchen better than her sister...

"Ok, so you've been in this kitchen like a thousand times." Elena stated.

"Yeah, that's it." Bonnie agreed, just in that moment the doorbell rang. Ah, that must have been Stefan.

"Ok, he's here. Don't be nervous. Just be your normal loving self." Elena instructed Bonnie, then she looked at Holly, "You'll love Stefan; he's great. Plus, he'll adore your food!" Elena was clearly nervous; Holly knew that she probably really liked the guy... good for her.

"Elena, calm down. I'm sure he's brilliant" Holly replied smiling, watching her sister leave the kitchen to open the door for Stefan. A moment later Holly put down the piping bag, grabbed the salat bowl and put it on the dinner table, after which she quickly went back to the oven, where Bonnie was just taking the Patate al forno out of the oven.

"Thanks," Holly told her, just as Elena entered the kitchen, pulling a young man behind her, who Holly assumed must be...

"Stefan! This is my twin sister, Holly." When the guy - who was rather good looking, with light brown hair, gorgeous eyes and a complexion to die for - saw her, he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widened. Holly smiled shyly; He was clearly surprised by the twin-revelation, maybe even overwhelmed, which was something Holly understood all too well.

"Hi..." Holly spoke quietly. Since she felt super awkward and didn't know what to do, she made some stupid waving motion with both her arms at the guy who was barely standing three feet away. ' _God, what is wrong with me?!_ ' Why did she always have to make things more awkward than they had to be?... She felt the strong urge to knock her head against the counter.

"Twin sister?," the Stefan-guy replied first to Elena, then to Holly, "It's nice to meet you, Holly. I'm Stefan; but I guess you already knew that..." He was nice. Very nice. Holly just nodded, not sure what to do without making things more awkward. Thankfully Bonnie spoke up and remedied the situation.

"Well then, let's get to the dinner table, I'm starving and this smells delicious!" She said, with the Patate al forno still in hand. Everyone agreed.

"I just need like five minutes to finish the cupcakes. I'll be right there..." They nodded and went to the dinner table, while Holly grabbed her piping bag, and quickly finished the cupcakes. Once they were covered in the frosting cream, she put the sliced strawberry pieces on top and then put the Cupcakes in the fridge. Holly grabbed the dirty dishes dumbed them in the sink and followed the others to dinner.

~*~

"Holly this is great." Stefan complimented her cooking.

"Thank you..." Holly replied, the stranger's praise making her blush.

"Holly is a brilliant cook. She used to tell us, that she's good at it because it's like chemistry... Our Mom used to say it's because she takes after her, while Jeremy and I take after our dad in the cooking Department; fine but not amazing..." Elena proudly told Stefan, "Then again, she is brilliant at most things, that's how she got into Harvard at sixteen." Holly shrunk a bit in her seat... she wasn't all that comfortable with people talking about her... But apparently Elena knew that, because she changed the topic only seconds later. "Did Tanner give you a hard time today?"

"Well, he let me on the team, so I must have done something right." Stefan answered.

"Bonnie, you should have seen Stefan today. Tyler threw a ball right at him..." Elena tried to include Bonnie and get her to talk to and get to know Stefan. Holly was glad Bonnie was there to divide Elena's attention a little and pull her focus away from her.

"Yeah, I heard." Bonnie dismissed Elena's attempt to start a conversation. Elena looked rather disappointed. "Why don't you tell Stefan about your family?," She then tried to encourage her. All Holly thought was 'That could have been me...' as she grabbed her glass of water and took a big sip.

"Uhm, divorced. No mom. Live with my dad." Bonnie answered awkwardly.

"No, about the witches. Bonnie's family has a lineage of witches. It's really cool." Elena explained to Stefan... Holly vaguely knew about that as well... Bonnie's family originated from somewhere in Salem...

"Cool isn't the word I'd use." Bonnie replied and promptly received a glare from Elena.

"Well, it's certainly interesting. I'm not too versed, but I do know that there's a history of Celtic druids that migrated here in the 1800's." Stefan said having picked up on Elena's effort to try and make Bonnie like him. Good man. Holly grew fonder of Stefan by the minute.

"My family came by way of Salem." Bonnie shot out, seemingly a little happy that Stefan knew about that particular piece of history.

"Really? Salem witches?" Stefan asked, sounding sort of impressed.

"Yeah." Bonnie confirmed awkwardly... Holly could practically feel the awkwardness rolling off Bonnie in waves...

"I would say that's pretty cool." Stefan stated, continuing on the topic that had made Bonnie come out of her shell a little.

"Really? Why?" Bonnie asked, she sounded genuinely curious. Holly was curious too. Maybe Stefan was one of those graveyard-weirdos who prayed to Satan and took every bit of folklore and esoteric for fact.

"Salem witches are heroic examples of individualism and nonconformity." Stefan explained to Bonnie. ' _Or he's just a feminist; Good one_ ' Holly thought and mentally applauded Stefan. He'd just successfully won over Bonnie.

"Yeah, they are." Bonnie agreed with Stefan when suddenly the doorbell rang.

Holly looked at Elena. She wasn't thrilled at the thought of seeing any more people tonight...

"Did you invite anyone else?" Holly asked. Elena shook her head. "Alright, then... I'll get it... I wanna get the cupcakes anyway..." Holly pushed her chair back, got up, walked to the door and opened it...

"Oh, Caroline!" Holly breathed out, just as the blonde opened her mouth to speak as well.

"Surprise! Bonnie said you were doing dinner, so we brought dessert," Caroline practically sang. Holly looked at her wide eyed. Great, more people... ' _keep it together, don't get all freaky!_ ' "Elena?" Caroline asked after a moment when she didn't respond.

"Ahhh..." ' _fantastic reaction, Holly. Time to go to bed..._ ' "

"Hope you don't mind." Spoke a velvet soft male voice behind Caroline. OH! She hadn't even noticed that guy... And she didn't know him at all... Fantastic, just fantastic. Another stranger to witness her awkwardness... This night just kept getting better...

"Holly?" Elena's voice chimed from the dinner table. Caroline's eyes were the ones that widened now.

"HOLLY?! Oh my god! Holly, you're home!" Caroline jumped forward and wrapped her arms around her and Holly tensed a little, she was a bit overwhelmed. "Why didn't you call? It's so great to see you! I'm sorry I didn't recognise you immediately, I'm such a blind idiot! Even if your eyes weren't a completely different colour from Elena's, what you're wearing should have given it away! Elena wouldn't be caught dead in those pants!" Holly wasn't sure whether to be touched or insulted... Caroline turned to the guy she'd come with; he was frowning a little. "Damon, this is Elena's little twin, Holly; Holly, this is my boyfriend – Damon" He looked intrigued.

"Holly, it's a pleasure to meet you" The guy purred and smiled charmingly. He was really, REALLY good looking. Wide eyed and a little shell-shocked Holly didn't know how to react. She knew she had to; she just didn't really know how, at least not without making more of a fool of herself... but – social conventions dictated, that she said something.

"...ugh... ammm...hello, you..." She could feel face heating as she looked down to her socks. ' _Hello, you?!?! Why must I be this way?!_ ' To be honest, Holly didn't quite know what to do with herself...

"Holly?" Elena called again, her voice this time much closer. Thankfully only a moment later she appeared behind her. "Caroline!" She sounded enthusiastic "...Damon..." And then less so.

"We wanted to drop by and surprise you guys, but then Holly surprised us," Caroline explained with a smile. Somewhere further down in her mind, Holly was very happy to see Caroline. She'd always been her best Mystic Falls friend. Holly finally caught herself and realized it was rather impolite to let them stand in the doorway like this.

"... would you like to..." She was interrupted when Stefan suddenly appeared, Bonnie coming behind him... it was getting really crowded...

"What are you doing here?" He asked Damon with greeted teeth. So apparently, they knew each other and Stefan wasn't too fond of Damon. Holly frowned a little... Stefan had just barged into this conversation like a bulldozer, mowing Holly's invite over.

"Actually, I was just waiting for Elena or Holly to invite us in." Damon explained, effectively purring the twin's names. Right... They wanted to be invited in... ' _would you look at that, Stefan..._ '

"Oh, yeah, you can..." Elena started, only for Stefan to stop her.

"No, no, no. He can't, uhm... he can't stay. Can you, Damon?" Stefan said glaring at his brother. Well, there were some issues...

"Get in here!" Caroline tried to persuade him.

"We're just... finishing up." Stefan remarked, obviously trying to stop Damon from coming in. Okay, this was getting rather ridiculous. Stefan and Damon obviously had some stuff to work out, but they didn't need to do that in the doorway...

"Stefan, it's fine." Holly spoke quietly, looking down at her socks once more, while trying ease the tension between Stefan and Damon. "... Please, come in." She invited Damon. With that the dark-haired young man crossed the threshold.

"You have a beautiful home, ladies," Damon complimented the twins.

"Thank you." Elena replied kindly.

"Well then, come to the living room... I'll make some coffee and we can eat the dessert you and Caroline brought and my cupcakes..." Holly directed, really just wanting the crowd around her to disperse, because it was starting to make her skin crawl...

So, Holly went to the kitchen, with Caroline coming after her with the desserts she'd brought. Holly told her to just put them on the counter, while she got the cupcakes from the fridge and took some cake plates out of the kitchen cupboard. She put them next to Caroline's desserts and told her to put them on the plates, along with one cupcake each, while she went and turned on the coffee maker.

"So, how long are you back for? Aren't you missing a lot of classes by being here?" Caroline asked. Holly shrugged.

"I've left Harvard, actually. I'm transferring to the University of Virginia... I got a little homesick while I was gone, and with mum and dad dead I figured I should spend some more time with my siblings..." She explained. Caroline looked at her surprised.

"So, did you finally forgive Elena for what happened?" Holly shook her head.

"No, but I know I have to forgive her eventually. From a rational point of few I understand, that the accident could have happened either way, but the fact that they were only driving out to pick her up..." Shock her head again, trying to get rid of the negative thoughts inside her head. "I hate that I feel this way. Elena is my sister, I love her, but I can't help it, I'm resenting her for mum and dad's deaths." Caroline knew about Holly's struggles, because she'd explained them to her in an Email, she'd sent to her, explaining why she wouldn't come home during semester break...

"I understand... I'm sure you'll get over it eventually. Especially when you're around her the whole time... Soooo, why didn't you tell me, that you were coming home?"

"I didn't want anyone to know that I was coming... but I was gonna call and tell you tomorrow or so..." Holly explained, not wanting Caroline to feel unimportant. The girls finished their respective tasks in silence and brought the pates and cups into the living room, where everybody had gathered. Caroline sat down next to Damon, while Holly sat down next to Bonnie. At some point during dessert she felt someone's eyes on her and she looked up, to catch Damon's gaze. She war completely captivated, unable to look away like she would have done with anyone else. His eyes were a stunning shade of dark blue, pulling her in but at the same time shutting her out. It was strange. Usually people said, that the eyes are the windows of the soul, but Damon's eyes seemed like those windows were shut and she was just looking in though the glass, unable to make out anything on the inside but captivating None the less...

"Holly?" She broke away and turned her head to Stefan. "Are you alright?" He looked genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine." She replied, a little shakily - and tried not to make eye contact with Damon again, but when she couldn't feel him looking anymore, she looked up and he sent her a very cocky smirk again. Holly was drifting in and out of the ongoing conversation, not really interested in the topics at hand, instead thinking about everything she was gonna have to take care of tomorrow. The only thing she could put together from it, was that Damon and Stefan were apparently brothers.

"... I'll work with her." Bonnie said, interrupting Caroline. At some point and pulling Holly's attention back on the conversation.

"I guess we can put her at the back..." Caroline muttered. ' _Ah, Cheerleader talk, time to get outta here...'_

"While you think about that, I'm going to clear the table." Holly threw in and jumped up.

She gathered all the plates and went to the kitchen where she started putting them into the dishwasher. Then she went and cleaned the dinner table. She thought she was pretty much done and wanted to check the sink one more time, just to be sure, when someone appeared behind her.

"One more." Damon. He was walking into the kitchen with a smug smile on his face and a glass in his hand. Holly smiled.

"Thank you!" She went to grab it, but it slid out of her hand and fell towards the floor. Within a split second Damon caught it, before it could hit the ground and shatter into a hundred pieces. Holly let out a small impressed laugh.

"Thanks," she said kind of sheepishly as he held it out to her once more. He smirked and leaned against the counter.

"I like you, you know how to laugh." Not really knowing how to respond to that, Holly just nodded awkwardly and put the glass into the dishwasher. "Where have you been?"

"What?" She asked confused.

"I've been around Mystic Falls for a while, I haven't seen you. I haven't even heard anyone mention you..." Holly shrunk away a bit. Of course nobody talked about her...

"Well, I don't really have that many social ties around here... I was sort of gifted as a child..."

"Sort of?" He interrupted.

"Yeah... I went to High School at nine and finished my undergrad at Whitmore when I was fifteen... Then I got into Harvard medical school – aaaaand that's it... believe it or not, but people I went to school with didn't really jump at the chance of being friends with a little kid... and kids my age didn't really enjoy spending time with someone who was that much smarter than them, so most of the ties I have here are family and most of Elena's friends..." She looked down on the floor a little embarrassed and shrugged.

"Oh, why did you come back, isn't med school four years?"

"I missed home, I guess... What about you? At dinner Stefan mentioned he's only just come into town. I'm guessing you came together..."

"Couldn't miss my Little brother's first day of school." He relented. Holly smiled. So they were Brothers... It was sort of sweet, that he cared about his brother so much, even though they were on bad terms...

"You're very patronising to him," she closed the dishwasher and leaned against it. "What's going on between you?"

"Our parents died, I'm all he has." Now, that she could emphasize with...

"I understand... I'm sorry..."

"Don't be. I know you get it..." Of course. Elena had told Stefan and Stefan had obviously told him the story of what happened to their parents. Holly's curiosity got the better off her.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"Ask away, Holly." Perky.

"You guys are pretty resentful towards each other... what's the story there?"

"There was this girl... Katherine..." Oh. Got it.

"What happened with her?" Holly asked.

"Fire, tragedy. She died." He responded simply. She didn't see his eyes, but she thought that she could hear something in his voice. Sadness?

"Recently?" She asked him, looking up, wanting to see his face.

"Seems like it was yesterday." He replied, not looking her way.

"What was she like?" He finally looked at her, but his eyes didn't show anything.

"She was beautiful, a lot like your sister and you in that department." Don't blush, don't blush, she told herself. He smirked like he knew what was going on in her mind. "She was also very complicated, selfish, at times not very kind, but sexy and seductive." Oh. Oh! Oh no...

"Sooo you were both in love with her, huh?" Holly asked. She was trying to look sympatric, but she couldn't help placing one hand on her hip.

"I was...But if you want details ask Stefan, though his answers are probably different than mine."

"Okay..." She replied and started to fold the dishtowels. She heard him laugh and walk over to her left side.

"I think you should tell your sister to quit cheerleading." Holly looked at him surprised and asked why. "I saw her today at practice, she looked miserable." She laughed.

"I'm sure she was just mad at Caroline or something... as far as I remember she always loved it... she's always revelled in being the popular-girl stereotype... by the way, I'm sorry." She said. He looked at her, questioningly and weirded out for a moment. Holly looked away shyly, not wanting to maintain eyes contact. "About Katherine..." She explained, "it seems like Stefan wasn't the only one who lost her..." That very moment Elena appeared in the doorway.

"Have you turned on the dishwasher yet?" She was holding a couple of mugs. Holly smiled a little and shook her head, reaching out to take the mugs from her. Elena turned and left right away, while Holly loaded the mugs in the dishwasher, when Damon spoke again.

"It seems like she's trying, you know..." she nodded. She knew. Of course she knew... she just didn't know how to forgive Elena yet... "You seem like a very nice person, Holly" Damon said. She shrugged a little embarrassed, her cheeks reddening. The conversation was interrupted once more, this time by Bonnie waling into the kitchen.

"Do you need some help?" Holly nodded, feeling super awkward.

"Yeah," she answered quietly. She turned to look at Damon and quickly stepped away from him, once she realised how close they had been. A smirk appeared on his face and he straightened up and walked out door, back into the living room.

"What was that?" Bonnie asked frowning. Holly looked at her questioningly.

"What was what?"

"You have been back here for almost five minutes..." She stated, looking suspicious. Holly kept looking at her dumbly, starting to frown. "Do you have a thing for him? Was there something going on?" Bonnie clarified. Holly's eyes widened and her face turned as red as a tomato. She rapidly shook her head.

"Wha- I mean how- I- I- mean NO! NO! Why- why do you- why are you- ahhh-" she squeaked, unable to form a proper sentence and getting more and more aggravated by the second.

"Okay, Okay! I get it, Holly. But I saw that look..."

"Wh- what look?" she asked, breathing heavily.

"You know what look." Once again, she shook her head. She honestly, really didn't! Why was Bonnie implying this? Did she really not know her at all?

"I really don't." Bonnie was still giving her a suspicious look. "Just remember, Holly. He is Caroline's boyfriend." She nodded quickly.

"Now, can we please move on from this line of conversation?" She asked, her face still red...

~*~

When Bonnie and Holly were done in the kitchen they went back into the living room to find Damon and Caroline already standing, apparently saying their goodbyes.

"Goodbye, Holly." Damon said charmingly. She looked at him, once again blushing a little.

"Goodnight, Damon?" she answered questioningly, then she turned to Caroline, "Bye Care, get home safely."

"I'll see you around." Damon spoke again, before Caroline could answer, and went out the door with her in tow. Holly frowned and turned to Stefan.

"Your brother is rather strange, isn't he?" She asked...

~*~

Later that evening, after everyone had left, Elena and Holly were cleaning up the rest of the kitchen and dining area as well as the living room, when the front door opened and Jeremy walked in. Holly quickly ran out into the hallway to greet him. At first Jeremy shrugged her off-

"Leave me alone, Elena!" -and started to stomp up the stairs, that is, until Elena walked out of the living room. Jeremy paused, confused for a second, before he turned back towards Holly.

"Holly?" She smiled.

"Hey, Jerry!"

"Oh my god!" He ran back down the stairs and gathered his sister in his arms. "It's so good to see you! How are you here right now?! What about Harvard?" He asked excitedly. Holly hugged him back and held on tight.

"Harvard is history. I switched University and I'm now back for good." She answered. And before he could say anything else she continued, "why don't you come into the kitchen with me to talk? I made cupcakes and I'll with us up some hot coca!"

"Are you kidding, YES!" he spoke excitedly, "let's go!" He let go of her and grabbed her hand, wanting to pull her along.

"Wait, give me a sec. now that everybody knows that I'm back I need to let Smokie out of my room and feed her and stuff. Might as well do that now, at least then I won't have to come back down later..." she said quickly, already making her way upstairs.

"Wait, is Jenna home already? Does she know you're back yet? What if she accidentally lets Smokie slip out when she gets here?" Jeremy threw in.

"Jenna knew she was coming, Jer." Elena inserted herself in the conversation. He let out an 'Oh' Holly smiled and ran upstairs, opening her bedroom door. Inside Smokie was still lying on her bed. When the door opened the cat looked up lazily. "Meow"

Holly quickly crossed the room and picked up the still unused litterbox next to her window and put it in the hall. When she returned Smokie was still on the bed. "Meow" Holly smiled.

"Okay, come here, Meow!" she exclaimed, laughing and picked the cat up off the bed and took her downstairs into the kitchen where Jeremy was waiting along with Elena. Both lit up when they saw the big fuzzy cat. Both immediately cooing at the pet who couldn't care less. She put the cat down.

"Sooo, time for hot coca, huh?" pulled out a pot once more and filled it with milk. Simultaneously she took out a small bowl and filled it with a mixture of milk and water for Smokie. She put the bowl down on the floor in the corner, next to the dining table and rejoined her siblings. The three of them talked until late into the night and were even joined by Jenna at some point after she'd come home...

~*~

_His hot breath whispered across her neck, hands brushing softly down her waist to her hips. She felt him press closer to her, his front to her back. She ached her back, her head making contact with his shoulder as he pressed his hot lips on the exposed skin of her neck. Her hands moved to cover his as he wrapped them around to her front, drawing her even closer._

_All of a sudden, he spun her around and threw her on the bed. Within a second he appeared above her, pressing his lips to hers._

_They shared more heated kisses while his hands made their way down her arms, grabbed around her wrists and guided her hands up above her head and holding them down with one hand while he slowly wrapped the other hand around his neck, pushing her head upwards as she ached against him._

_"Damon," she moaned. He looked at her smugly and suddenly his face changed. His eyes turned red and veins appeared under them. And then he opened his mouth and exposed his razor sharp, pearly white teeth and went right for her neck._

Holly gasped and sat up in her bed.

She'd never had a dream like that! She'd never even entertained that kind of thought about any man!

She looked around her room, she was alone in her bed, she was home and there was no sign of anyone in her room. Her hands shot up to her neck and nothing... Just a dream... She let a breath out in relieve.

'Caw Caw' I looked towards the open window where a crow was sitting on the ledge. She shrugged, turned around and went back to sleep. She figured if that bird would come in Smokie would turn it to lunch meat...

~*~

The next day Holly was rudely awoken by the doorbell at around 10AM. Jeremy and Elena were probably at school. Jenna was either downstairs or at her university.

She didn't really wanna get up, but she also didn't have much of a choice, she needed the stuff that the moving truck was bringing. So she jumped out of bed and to the stairs, where luckily Jenna had already opened the door and let the movers in.

Holly ran to Elena's room and stole a black and white striped knit dress from her closet, since she figured that would be the quickest to put on.

She ran out of Elena's room to the bathroom, Where Smokie was lying on top of the toilet lit, staring at her in distaste as she entered.

She quickly took her toothbrush, which she had unpacked from her bag and used before going to bed, and covered it with toothpaste. As the same time she went to the shower cabin and turned the water on. She quickly brushed over her teeth, then she spit out the toothpaste, quickly rinsed the toothbrush and put it back. She pulled the shirt she'd been sleeping in over her head and threw it on the floor, the same was done to her underwear, and then she jumped under the shower spray.

Since she didn't was her hair, which was still in a messy bed-headed bun on top of her head, the shower was rather quick and then she got out, took her towels from where she'd left them the night before and started to rub herself dry furiously. Wrapped in her towel Holly took Elena's dress and ran to her bedroom, throwing the door shut behind her. Thankfully Elena had given her three pairs of panties the previous night, so she took a pair from her dresser and put it on. Next was her bra from the previous night. She grabbed her bag from the bedside table, took out a can of deodorant and sprayed herself with it, after which she threw the can back in her bag, grabbed Elena's dress and pulled it over her head. Once dressed, she grabbed a hairbrush from her bed and undid her bun. She brushed out her long curls out and pulled them together in side braid. She looked at herself in the mirror, it wasn't perfect, but it was fine. She once again grabbed her wet towels and threw them back into the bathroom, like she'd done the previous night and ripped the bathroom window open. Her cat, Smokie, looked up from where she was lying on the toilet lit with obvious disdain in her eyes. 'Meow'

"Alright, alright, I'm going," she answered, jogged out of the bathroom and let the door fall shut behind her, effectively shutting Smokie in, and went down the stairs.

Jenna – bless her – was entertaining the four movers in the kitchen with coffee. Holly went there and greeted everyone good morning.

"Good morning, miss Gilbert," the man in charge of the team greeted her.

"Morning, Holly," her aunt Jenna greeted at the same time.

The man in charge handed Holly a protocol sheet to sign. The sheet was designed to be singed twice, the first signature to confirm the mover's arrival, the second signature to confirm, all her stuff had arrived.

So, after they'd finished their morning coffee, the movers and Holly started unloading the truck. She asked them to put her personal items, such as the boxes filled with her clothes, papers and other clutter, upstairs into her room. Everything else, all the furniture her mum and dad had gotten her for her college apartment, the couch, the bed, her closet, the desk, and so on; she had them put it down in the basement. When they were done, she signed the paper sheet a second time to confirm, that all her stuff had arrived and she gave each of the movers a hundred dollars to thank them for their troubles. Of course she'd still receive an invoice from their office, and they'd all get paid in their salaries, but she thought they should have some money, that their company wouldn't get a cut of... her father had taught her that when she had moved to Cambridge for Harvard.

After the moving people were gone, Holly went up to her bedroom to unpack her boxes. Box by box she filled all her empty closets with her clothes, her books and papers, her jewellery. She put her stuffed animals on her sofa, the put her laptop on her desk, she put up her laptop on the desk and the stereo, as well as the four white orchids she owned, by the window.

She was just pulling her grandma's old music box out of one of the moving boxes, when Jenna knocked and opened her door.

"Hey, it's 3:30, you wanna get out of here and see some leftover daylight?" she asked, leaning against the doorframe. Holly placed the music box on her dresser and pushed a wayward curl out of her face.

"I don't know..." she mumbled.

"Getting into town and seeing your old friends could do you some good," Jenna tried to coax her, "also I think your sister would appreciate you showing up." Holly looked at her surprised.

"Show up where?" she asked feeling super clueless. What the hell was going on?

"The game?" It was a statement, but Jenna made it sound like a question. "Stefan's football game?" Oh. Yeah... She was pretty sure Stefan and Elena had mentioned that at some point last night...

"Oh yeah, I could probably go..." she mumbled, nodding. She was already looking around, thinking about what she could wear. "I'll need to get ready..." Jenna let out a laugh.

"Well then, hurry up. I'll take you, if you want." She nodded and Jenna disappeared. Holly wasn't sure where she'd gone... Either to her room or downstairs... No matter. If she wanted to go, she would have to get ready...

Holly went to her closet and picked out a long-sleeved blush-red lace dress, from the dresser she got a similar coloured pair of knee-high stockings. She threw everything on her bed then she pulled her dress over her head and let it fall to the floor. She put her dress on and pulled the stockings up. When she was dressed, she went to one of the boxes that wasn't unpacked yet, opened it and searched through it until she found a pair of black ankle boots which she put on. The only thing left was her hair. She went to the bathroom, opened and untangled her braid and brushed out her curls once more. She opened Elena's accessory drawer and picked found a flowery-headband and used her red lipstick. When she was all done she went downstairs where Jenna was writing on her laptop in the kitchen. When Holly entered, she looked up.

"Well you look nice." Well, she hadn't dressed to look terrible, but she knew that she and Elena had very different styles when it came to clothing. While Elena's style was a little sexy, trendy and stylish, with lots of dark and earthy colours, Holly's was well – either pretty girly or unspectacularly casual and mismatched. "Are you ready?" She nodded.

"I'll just need a coat and a bag," she answered, "I wanted to take a bottle of water to drink and a sandwich."

"Okay then... just keep an eye on the clock, it's quarter past five," had she really taken this long?! "You better hurry if you wanna catch at least a little bit of the game..." Jenna told her. Holly nodded and went to the fridge. She got ham and cheese as well as a cucumber and mayonnaise out. She cut two slices of bread of the loaf that was kept in the designated box. She made the sandwich and wrapped it up, then she grabbed a bottle of water from one of the kitchen closets. Once finished she put the stuff she'd used back into the fridge and grabbed the sandwich and water and went back upstairs. She took a big floral bag coloured in various red hues, in which she stuffed her sandwich and water as well as her phone, her keys, one of her favourite books called 'North and South' by Elizabeth Gaskelland and her purse, as well as some other clutter. When her bag was packed, she pulled a long black coat out of her closet and pulled it on.

She went downstairs to let Jenna know that she was ready. They went out and got in the car. Jenna dropped her off at the School's parking lot. It was almost six and it was starting to get dark.

"Have fun!" she called from the car when Holly got out. The brunette nodded and hurried to the game. No one was plaing yet, instead everybody and their mum had gathered in front of the school entrance where a big stage was. It was really crowded. Holly wasn't exactly the biggest fan of crowds... No matter. She searched through the crowd until she found her sister. She walked up behind Elena and tapped her on the shoulder. Her sister turned whirled.

"Holly?!," she called out surprised. "Oh god! Hey!" Elena hugged her – against her will, one might add...

"Hey..." Holly mumbled dazed and patted her on the back awkwardly.

"Oh my god, I can't believe you came!" Elena called out, "here," she reached out her hand, "come with me, we can see Stefan together! He's in the front" Yay... to it was gonna get even tighter around her... Even though every fibre of her being protested against it she nodded and Elena let Elena pull her through the crowd... for about ten minutes until they had fought and elbowed their way to the front. Holly hated this. She didn't know anything about football, she didn't even like football, so she definitely didn't understand why people were getting so hyped up... She was more of an 'olympic-sports' kind of person than a 'sports-sports' kind of person...

Seemingly the entire high school was there. Everybody was gathered around a huge bonfire. The teacher, Mr.Tanner, as Holly recalled from her own high school days – she had really disliked the guy, or rather he had disliked her – was giving some sort of endorsement speech, culminating in how great Stefan would be... It was a bit too loud and there were a few too many people around. Holly hated it. When the speech was almost over, Holly noticed Tyler Lockwood, one of the players, step out of the footballer line up. Two minutes later, while Tanner was still speaking something was happening somewhere in the back. As soon as Elena noticed the whole ordeal, she wanted to join it... Why did she always have to join this kind of stuff?! Ignoring everything else, including her sister, Elena walked over to join the gathering crowd. Holly followed her, along with Stefan who was coming over. As it turned out Elena'd had a good instinct Tyler Lockwood was rolling around the grass and fighting Jeremy.

"Oh god!" Holly called out, horrified at the idea of her little brother in a physical row, next to Elena. Stefan ran past them, over to Tyler and Jeremy and pulled them apart- or more like – pulled Tyler off Jeremy. ' _Thank God!_ ' Just when Holly thought that Stefan had put an end to the fight, she noticed Jeremy grabbing a broken bottle. So did Elena, because both sisters leaped forward to stop their little brother from attacking Tyler with it, but by the time they got close enough Jeremy had already swung the broken bottle at Tyler, cutting Stefan's hand in the process. Elena left forward to stop Jeremy from swinging again, Holly grabbed Stefan's hand. He tied to pull it away, but Holly way actually stronger than the looked especially when she put her mind to something.

"Holly, please, it's nothing," Stefan tried, trying to get her to let his hand go. She didn't, in fact she insisted, that she wanted to see it, prying his hand open to see his palm, but his fist was like iron. Right as she finally managed to pry his hand open she witnessed, what looked like a days old cut rather than one he'd just received, disappear like magic. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened without a sound. She stared at his hand, trying to comprehend what she'd just seen. She looked up at Stefan.

"What? How?" was all she could say. Something was definitely off about Stefan... he looked at her, equally wide eyed, like he wasn't sure what to say, until he finally settled on something.

"I told you it was nothing, the blood wasn't mine." Holly shook her head.

"No, no!" she insisted. She knew what she'd seen! "There was a cut on your hand! And it just disappeared, right in front of my eyes!" Stefan opened his mouth, but right that second Elena reappeared.

"Holly, please. I'll explain." He breathed out hurriedly, looking deep in her eyes, pleadingly... She felt sort of compelled to help him keep his secret, whatever it was...

"Oh my god your hand!" Elena tried to grab it from Holly's hand. Holly quickly put her hand atop Stefan's to hide his palm.

"He's okay, I already took a look." She explained to her twin, "Jeremy didn't really touch him..." She let go of Stefan's hand and showed it to Elena. "What about Jeremy?" Elena grabbed Stefan's hand.

"Oh my god, I really thought Jeremy injured you, I thought I saw it!" she told Stefan, looking lovingly in his eyes with a soft smile, then she turned to Holly. "I don't know what the hell is wrong with him! He just stormed off!" Holly frowned. She'd never known Jeremy to be such a violent person...

"I need to get to the game," Stefan said, "I'll talk to you after?" he asked Elena, but he gave Holly a side glance. She gave him a nod. It was fine. As long as he told her what the hell was going on! Stefan left and Elena pulled Holly to the field. Again – she hated it.

"Shouldn't you be joining she cheerleaders?" Holly asked her sister some point, only just realising that Elena wasn't in uniform. Shook her head.

"No. I quit earlier today..." she explained. Holly gave her a surprised look. Maybe Damon had been right when he'd told her that Elena had been miserable at practice... They passed Bonnie and wished her luck.

"Thanks, guys! I just hope I won't mess up the steps, I keep getting distracted when I try to focus. It's 8, 14,22... It keeps messing with my mind..."

"What's 8, 14, 22?" Holly asked confused. Elena shrugged. Bonnie shook her head.

"Nevermind. You guys best go up to the bleachers." Elena nodded and pulled her along. When the twins were sitting on the bleachers, surrounded by lots and lots of loud people, Holly needed to distract herself, she felt like she needed to throw up...

"Soooo... Stefan," she started, leaving the sentence hanging in the air. Elena smiled.

"What do you think?" Elena asked excitedly. She was asking her? Okay... What to say, what to say...

"He's very nice, very charming..." Holly answered. Elena smiled.

"Yes he is! Look –" She grabbed the necklace she was wearing and held it out to show it to Holly. It was very pretty. "He gave me this today. Isn't it beautiful?" Holly nodded. It was. Elena gasped. "He also gave me this," she shifted and pulled a long golden amulet from her white jacket, "he gave me this to give to you. He wanted to win your approval!" Elena told her and handed her the amulet. Holly reached out and took it. Stefan was apparently very invested in the relationship with her sister. Holly took the necklace and slipped it over her head.

"Thank you..." Holly mumbled, blushing a little.

The game started and the twins' talking stopped. Both girls focused intensely on the game, on Stefan. The people around were getting louder and louder and it was getting more and more difficult for Holly. She was breaking a cold sweat and she was trembling a little. At some point before halftime Elena noticed her sister's distress. She put a hand on Holly's shoulder.

"Are you okay? I'm sorry, I forgot you don't like crowds. Do you wanna go home?" Elena asked concerned. Holly shook her head. She didn't wanna ruin Elena's night AND she wanted to hear what Stefan had to say...

"I think I just need a break," she reasoned, "I'll just walk out of the crowd, take a few breaths, if that doesn't work, maybe I'll call Jenna and see if she can pick me up sometime after the game..." She stood up. Elena touched her arm.

"Do you want me to come?" she asked. Holly shook her head.

"No, no. I'll be right back..." Elena get her go.

Holly ran down the bleachers and exited the football field. She walked back out to the parking lot. It was void of people. Holly leaned against some random car, closed her eyes and took a few breaths to relax herself.

Suddenly she heard a noise. Her eyes flew open and there stood Damon right in front of her. He was wearing the same as last night, black jeans, a black leather jacket and black boots. He blended perfectly with the darkness.

"Damon! You scared me." Holly put her hand over her heart. "Are you here to see Caroline in action?" she asked smiling. It was really sweet that he was here to see his girlfriend. He scratched the back of his head.

"Actually I'm avoiding Caroline." Damon answered. Oh. That was rather rude... Especially considering that Caroline was his girlfriend... Maybe she could help them with their troubles...

"And why is that?" Holly asked benevolently.

"I needed a break. She talks more than I can listen..." Damon sighed. Holly frowned. He was only noticing that now? Why was he even with Caroline if she was too much for him?

"Well, maybe you guys need to talk it out..." She suggested.

"Hm... Well, she's awfully young..." Damon told her. Holly laughed and put her hands on her hips.

"She isn't much younger than you are." She brunette argued, trying to understand why he was talking to her about that.

"I don't see it going anywhere in the bigger picture... I think she'd drive me crazy." He confessed...

"Caroline has a lot of traits that I find deeply disturbing, but we've been friends since I was little, and believe it or not, but that means something to me," Holly explained to him.

"Duly noted, I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable. That's not my intention." Damon explained, trying to backpaddle. Holly shook her head, letting out a laugh.

"Yes, it is!" she called him out, "I'm not the best person when it comes to picking up social cues, but even I'm not so dimwitted that I wouldn't notice that!" Caroline had probably told him about her shortcomings... It was actually sort of hurtful that someone who she'd deemed so nice at the beginning, would exploit her weaknesses like that...

"You're right," Damon conceded, "I do have other intentions. But so do you," He accused. Holly's eyes widened, genuinely surprised.

"What?"

"Mhm... I see them. You want me..." Damon said, looking deep into her eyes. She was captivated by them.

"What?" She asked shocked and shook her head, panicking. "No, no... I don't, I..." she broke off.

"I get to you. You find yourself drawn to me." He accused, "You think about me, even when you don't want to think about me. I bet you even dreamed about me. And right now,... You want to kiss me." Holly just kept shaking her head, panic rising in her stomach.

"I..." Damon's face was getting closer, "... I promise I don't..." He was almost touching her lips... It was a reflex. Holly's hand shot up and collided with his cheek.

"STOP! I DON'T WANT THIS!" Holly screamed loudly. Damon stepped back, frowning at her, obviously surprised by her outburst. "I don't want you, Damon. I would never do that to Caroline... I know I'm not famous for begin the most emotionally conscious person, but I respect Caroline! And I respect my sister and your brother and I would never do anything to jeopardise their relationship..." she explained quietly, avoiding eye contact, "I don't know what it happening between you and Stefan, but Elena and I won't be in the middle of it!"

With that Holly pushed past Damon and walked back to the playing field. Damon stayed behind, but Holly didn't look back. She re-joined Elena on the bleachers without a word. She came back just in time for the kick off of the second halftime...

~*~

After the game Elena and Holly were just meeting up with Stefan, when they heard police sirens. They went outside the gym where they found a crying Bonnie, a very distraught Matt Donavan, Elena's ex-boyfriend, and a crowd of by standing gaffers.

Elena buried herself in Stefan's chest, while Holly put one arm around Bonnie, trying to comfort her at least a little. Bonnie was leaning into Holly, when she suddenly started trembling.

"Bonnie, what's wrong?" she asked looking at the panicked girl.

"I just saw the numbers I have been obsessed all this week..." Bonnie explained with a nervous sigh.

"What?" Holly asked, looking around. Building 8, FHT14 on a car, and on the ground, the number 22... 8, 14, 22... The numbers Bonnie had mentioned before the start of the game...

"In that license plate, in that matriculation's car and the on the ground..." Bonnie unnecessarily recounted, completely scared out of her mind. "It was a warning about Tanner's death. It has to be!"

"Hey, calm down. I'll call Jenna. She'll pick us up. We'll go home and go to sleep and tomorrow we'll talk about this, okay?!" Holly told her rationally. "I'm gonna ask Elena if she wants a ride with us or if she goes with Stefan, okay?" she asked. Bonnie shook her head. This night sucked. Holly would talk to Stefan tomorrow.... Tonight was just too much...

"I came here with my car..." She muttered. Oh, okay than, change of plans...

"Alright, I'll drive us home in your car. I'll take it to my house and bring it by yours in the morning... And then we'll talk about this..." Bonnie nodded and pulled the keys out of her jacket pocket.

"Okay, take it and go to your car. Get in and make yourself comfortable, I'll just talk to my sister and then we'll go home." Bonnie nodded and went; Holly went over to Elena and Stefan to ask if her sister was gonna join them going home.

"Hey Elena... Hey Stefan... Bonnie and I are going home... Do you wanna come?" Elena nodded.

"Can we also take Stefan?" Holly gave him a side glance. One of his arm was around her twin's hip, holding her close. He obviously cared a lot about Elena... She agreed. No matter what was wrong with Stefan. As long as he cared about Elena, everything was alright...

Soon, the three of them joined Bonnie in the car. Holly got in the driver's seat and started the car. First, she dropped off Stefan at the old Salvatore Boarding House, after that she drove home Bonnie. The twins sisters accompanied her to the doorstep and hugged her goodnight. After that the twins got back into the car and drove to their home. Their drive home was silent, neither sister sure what to say. Eventually Holly pulled into their driveway and shut off the car.

""Well, this was an interesting night..." Holly muttered. "Things sure have gotten wild in Mystic Falls since I went away..." Elena laughed, humourlessly.

"Yeah, things have changed..." she shook her head. Holly smiled.

"Well, it could always be worse..." she told Elena, cheerfully. "You know what grandma used to say – at least it's not raining!" Both girls laughed. "Let's go inside. I'm tired and I wanna cuddle Smokie..." Holly told Elena who agreed and the girls got out of Bonnie's car and went inside. The first thing Holly did when she entered the house was call for her cat. When Smokie came toddling out of the kitchen. Holly immediately picked her up and kissed her head. She bid Elena goodnight and went upstairs with her furry little beast.

That night Holly slept soundly, curled up in bed with her cat. She didn't notice she dark figure that snuck in through her window, nor did she notice as the shadow longingly caressed her cheek...

**_*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*_ **

**Author's Note:**

> Alright that's it, the prologue!  
> What do you guys think? Is it okay? Btw I'm still Looking for a beta Reader; If any of you are interested, please let me know!  
> Thank you for reading!  
> Kisses and hugs - Any :*


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